1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information management systems and methods, center processing apparatuses and methods, information processing apparatuses and methods, and programs and recording media used with the information processing apparatuses and methods. In particular, the present invention relates to an information management system and method, a center processing apparatus and method, and an information processing apparatus and method which provide individual users with functions adapted for their preferences, and to a program and recording medium used therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, high performance audio-visual (AV) equipment has been developed in response to growing demands in the AV field. In particular, a television receiver or the like has a function in which various types of image processing are performed based on user's settings and in which image preferences (image quality such as image tone and definition) can be selected by a user. Also, since users' preferences are becoming more diversified, a receiver that analyzes a user's preference and receives content matching the preference has been proposed (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-224797).
In AV equipment, such as digital videocassette recorders, digital versatile disk (DVD) players, and television receivers, the functions of each piece of equipment are limited. Accordingly, even if a user upgrades the version of only a particular function in one piece of equipment, the user must re-purchase all pieces of equipment. In addition, the above related art has a problem in that functions and products adapted for the preferences of individual users cannot be provided since information about what type of image quality and sound quality each user likes cannot be acquired and analyzed.